Canada's Bombardier, which lost the contract to build the trains for Honolulu's rail transit system, has taken itself out of contention to buy the AnsaldoBreda and Ansaldo STS units — which won the $1.4 billion Honolulu contract — from Italy's Finmeccanica.

Reuters reports that multiple sources confirmed a report in an Italian newspaper that Bombardier, which, along with Hitachi of Japan, was seen as a likely buyer of the Ansaldo units, had not submitted an offer by a deadline set for the end of August.

Reuters reports other companies that may buy the Ansaldo units include Thales of France, CAF of Spain and a Chinese duo of CNR Corp and Insigma Technology.